4 - 5 November 2022 503: Service Unavailable 2022 Emerge Company

Excited to finally be back in precedented times, a group of young people wake up to yet another earth-shattering crisis: the Internet they grew up with is gone and it doesn’t look like it’s coming back. Faced with the first world problem of first world problems, this cluster of loose connections is thrown together as they try to figure out how to join the network when no one has the key. Did anyone have this on their 2022 bingo card?

Devised from the obsessions, dependencies, community, and culture of a group of actor-creators who have lived it first-hand, this is a show for anyone who’s ever scrolled through Instagram to avoid making small-talk, texted instead of knocking, googled how to boil an egg, or laid awake at night with the niggling doubt that everything you thought to be true is made of cake.

How do you find your soul-mate without Tinder? How are you supposed to know what’s happening in the world? If the timeline is cleared, could you really start over? Is cancel culture cancelled? If the Cloud evaporates, will we disappear with it? And has anyone tried turning it off and on again?

Insightful, self-aware and perversely entertaining, 503: Service Unavailable is a kaleidoscopic snapshot of digital natives and the virtual hellscape we call life. No filter.

The Emerge Company is Canberra Youth Theatre’s training and professional development program that brings together emerging theatre makers aged 18–25 to collaborate, train and create their own work as a company. Mentored by lead artist Christopher Carroll and industry professional guests, Emerge Company showcases the work of Canberra’s most promising emerging theatre makers.

Cast & Creative Team